There are various scenarios in which proximity detection can be essential to an operation. For example, in an open pit mine, large equipment and numerous workers coexist at close quarters, posing a constant danger that a machine operator, who often has limited visibility, may not be able to see persons close to the machine, with possibly serious consequences. Similar situations can be found wherever large equipment is operated.
One method for addressing proximity detection requirements is to attach wireless communication devices communicating within a wireless communication network to all objects or persons within an area. Time-Of-Arrival (TOA) techniques can then used, for example, for proximity detection, by computing distances between the wireless communication devices to determine their absolute or relative locations.
However, wireless network congestion limits the scalability of various existing proximity detection techniques. Accordingly, there is a need for a scalable, flexible method for performing proximity detection in a wireless communication network.
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The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.